As I write this, COVID-19 continues to provide challenges to all of us in both our work lives and especially our personal lives.
On a personal level, I find there is a fine line between prudence and paranoia... between too much and just enough information... between things that are relevant to me and things that are not.
With all of that in mind, I'm going to take a break from the usual topics I discuss as part of Conversations with the President to give a consolidated COVID synopsis as well as information that may be helpful to APSA members moving forward.
About a week ago (on March 25th), I wrote an email to APSA members with in-depth COVID information. If you want to re-read that email, you can access it here. In general, the following resources are available to APSA members:
- APSA is committed to continuously supporting our members. The office staff are working remotely, but they can be reached at 778-782-5423 or via email at apsa@sfu.ca .
- APSA has created an FAQ for members (which is constantly updated).
- The Employee and Family Assistance Program (EFAP) is available to you all, and includes both counselling and other services. I encourage you to review what we have available to us.
- SFU has its own COVID FAQ but, be aware that you may need to scroll past the parts relevant to students and others to get to the parts relevant to staff.
- Lastly, both Fraser Health and the BC Centre for Disease Control have good COVID informational websites.
Moving forward, I want to provide that balance between giving enough information and not giving too much information. Between news reports, government announcements, and SFU's own emails to different stakeholder groups, we are being bombarded with information and sometimes that can turn people off or cause important items to be missed.
To that end, as circumstances continue to unfold, APSA will be using the following communication process with its members:
1. If something arises that is immediately/urgently pertinent to APSA members in their role as SFU employees, we will send an email updating you.
2. Otherwise, we will update as part of our regular newsletters and other communications.
3. As always, you can contact APSA directly at any time at 778-782-5423 or via email at apsa@sfu.ca should you have any questions or concerns.
While you might not be getting a 7 p.m. serenade every night like the emergency/health workers that are in the thick of things, I want you to know that we know that each and every one of you is helping and adapting as best you can — even in a small way. You are appreciated.
Be Kind. Be Safe.
David